Dry cleaning apparatus



Filed March 18, 1952 2 sheetfsheet 1 fa/MM.

'DIRTY .50M/ENT UUTLET HEHTEU .5f/L

Dec. 19, 1933. T. E. PERKS A DRY CLEANING APPARATUS Filed March 18, 1932 2 sheets-sheet 2 COI/@INJEP MEER Patented Dec. 19, 1933 oFFlcE lDRY CLEANING APPARATUS Thomas Edgar Perks, London, England 4 Application March 1s, 1932, serial No. 599,772,

and in England March 23, 1931 1 claim. (ci. ca 38) This invention relates to apparatus for use in cleaningarticles of clothing and other articles and more particularly to dry cleaning apparatus of the kind in which the articles to be cleaned are subjected in a cleaningor Washing chamber 5 to the action of a drycleaning agent, such for instance as benzine, carbon tetrachloride or trichlorethylene;

In the cleaning or washing chamber of apparatus of this character a device is provided for kneading or agitating the articles tov be cleaned, said device consisting for instance, as is referred to in prior British 'Patent Specification No. 347,896 or the corresponding U.l S. Patent No.

1,802,034, of a dolly or a basket to which motion is imparted through the intermediary of suitable mechanisrn and, according to the principal feature of the present invention, means are provided whereby the degree of agitation of the 20 articles being cleaned may b e readily varied or adjusted as desired to suit ments.

Such adjustment, as Will be evident, is very desirable, as it will enable different articles to be treated-in one and the same apparatus in a manner suitable to their nature; for instance the provision of adjustable agitating mechanism in accordance with the present invention will enable light frocks' of delicate material to be cleaned in the same apparatus as costumes or suits of relatively heavy material, the agitating mechanism being adjusted when cleaning light frocks so as very gently to agitate the latter and adjusted, when cleaning costumes or suits, so as relatively violently to agitate the said articles.

In accordance with a preferred form of the invention the mechanism, through the intermediary of which the agitating device is arranged to be operated, comprises a reciprocating member the effective stroke performed by which may be varied as required by means of a suitable adjusting member provided for this purparticular requirepose, the arrangement being preferably such that the required adjustment may be made while the mechanism is in operation.

In carrying the invention into practice it is preferred to employ a rotary or rocking basket as the agitating device in which the articles to be cleaned are contained. The said articles are introduced into the basket through an aperture in the latter which must, as will be evident, `be brought into alignment with a corresponding aperture, which is provided with a suitable door, in the casing of the apparatus when it is desired either to insert the articles into the basket or withdraw them from the` basket after cleansing. It Will be evident, however, that the electric motor, or other prime-mover employed to rotate or rock the basket through the intermediary of the mechanism referred to herein- C? before, may be-stopped under such conditions that the aperture in the basket is not in alignment with the corresponding aperture in the ca sing and, in accordance with a further feature of the present invention, manually operable C5 means are provided whereby the aperture in the basket may be brought into the required position with regard tothe aperture in the casing,l independently of the electric motor or other prime-mover.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a common manually operable lever or other device is provided for 4varying or adjusting. the length of the effective stroke of the reciprocating member, referred to hereinbefore, and for bringing the basket into the required position relative to the casing independently of the electric motor Orotherprime-mover for loading and unloading the apparatus.-

In order that the invention may be readily understocd, an embodiment thereof will be described by Way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, which Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a dry cleaning apparatus embodying'the invention, and

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same.

Referring now to the drawings, it will be see that the apparatus comprises a casing 1 containing a washer chamber 2, a clean solvent-reservoir 24 provided with a window 25 and a lamp 90 23, a bottom chamber 'or still 3, arranged to be heated by any suitable means, and 'a condensing chamber 4. The chamber 4 contains a condenser coil, not shown, connected at its upper end to the top of the still 3 by a pipe 5, the 95 lower end of the condenser coil leading into the reservoir 24.

A manually operable outlet valve 7 permits dirty solvent to, be passed from the Washer chamber 2, when desired, into the still 3.

The still 3 being continuously heated, during the operation of the apparatus, by steam or other suitable means, the dirty solvent supplied thereto from chamberk 2 becomes vaporized, and rises through pipe 5 to the condenser chamber 105 4` leaving all impurities in the still 3. During its passage through the condenser chamber 4, the solvent vapourk becomes condensed, the resultant clean liquid solvent passing directly into the clean solvent reservoirv24.

A relief valve 8 of suitable type is provided in thepipe 5, in order to relieve the partial vacuum produced in the apparatus consequent upon the sudden fall in temperature in the still 3 when the dirty solvent is supplied thereto through valve 7.

The chamber 22 contains a basket 21 for the goods to be cleaned, journalled atA 9 and 9a in the casing. Journal 9a has a pinion 10 with which a rack bar 11, adapted to be reciprocated in a pivoted guide member 12, is arranged to cooperate. The rack bar 11 is adapted to be reciprocated by means of a crank arm 13 carfied by the shaft of an electric motor 14 and connected to the rack bar 1l by means of a connecting rod .15. The rod 15 is coupled to the rack bar 11 by' means of a pivot pin 16 which also extends through one end of a link 17 which is of greater length thanthe crank arm 13, the other end of the link 17 being connected by means of a pivot pin 18 to one yend of a lever 19 adapted to be swung about a fixedA pivot 22 by means of a handle 20. To hold the latter in "'dierent adjusted positions, it carries a springpressed locking pin 26 adapted to engage in the notches of a fixed segment 24.

In operation, when the position of the lever 19 has been adjusted and the electric motor 14 is set into operation, the crank arm 13 rotates clockwise continuously and, through the intermediary of the connecting rod 15, causes the link 17 to be rocked about the end of the hand lever 19 to which it is pivoted. The pivot pin 16, connecting the connecting rod 15, link 17 and rack bar llto one another, is thus caused to move to and fro along an arc of a circle having its centre at the pivot pin 18 connecting the link 17 to the hand lever, and, in View of the fact that the link 1'7 is of greater length than the crank arm 13, a complete to and fro arcuate movement of the pivot pin 16 is effected during each complete rotation of the crank arm 13.

The lower end of the rack bar 11 therefore also executes a to and fro arcuate movement, with the result that the rack bar is reciprocated in its pivoted guide 12, the latter being at the same time oscillated. As will be evident, the reciprocatory motion of the racklbarcauses the article receptacle 2l to be oscillated to and fro through the intermediary of the pinion 10.

By setting the hand lever 19 into one of its extreme positions, the link 17 isbrought into such a position, relative to the other component parts of the mechanism, that the longitudinal axis of the rack bar 11 is in one extreme position during its movement substantially tan` gential to the are described by the pivot pin 16, and under these conditions the stroke of the rack bar l1 inthe pivoted guide 12 is of maximum length. In these circumstances the basket 21 may be arranged to be oscillated through 360 or more in one direction and back through 360 or more in the opposite direction for each complete rotation of the crank arm 13.

It will be understood that ythe `maximum extent of the oscillation of 'the basket is'determined and limited in accordance with the relation between the diameter of the pinion 9a and thethrow of the crank arm 13.

With the hand lever 19 set in its other extreme position, the link 1'1 is arranged to be in such a position, relative to the other component parts of the mechanism, that the longitudinal axis of the rack bar 11 in its mean position is .substantially in alignment with a radius of the arc describedby the pivot pin 16, and under these conditions the stroke of the rack bar l1 in the pivoted guide 12 is of minimum length. Inthese circumstances the basket is oscillated to and fro through a relatively small angle.

By setting the hand lever 19 into various positions intermediate the two extreme positions referred to above, the extent of oscillation of the basket 2l may be varied correspondingly and, with the mechanism hereinbefore described, the setting of the lever may be eected, if desired, while the electric motor 14 is in operation, a continuous increase or decrease in the stroke effected by the rack bar 11 in the pivoted guide member l2 being obtained as the hand lever is moved from one extreme position to the othen It will be evident that, if the pivot pin 16 is so moved by the electric motor 14, through the intermediary of the connecting rod 15, that at an intermediate point in its arcuate movement the rack bar 1l and link 17 are in alignment with one another, the rack bar will execute two complete to 'and fro movements for every one complete to and fro movement of the pivot pin 16, that is to say, for every one complete rotation of the crank arm 13. On the other hand, if the link and rack bar are never brought into alignment with one another during operation or are only brought into alignment at the end of the arcuate movement of the pivot pin in one direction or the other, the .rack bar will only execute one complete to and fro movement for each complete to and fro arcuate movement 4oi" the pivot pin 16, that is to say for every complete rotation of the crank arm 13. n

With the hand lever 19 in the position illustrated in Figure 2, the rack bar 11 is arranged to effect one complete to and fro movement for each complete rotation of the crank arm 13, the hand lever 19 being set for the maximum stroke of the rack bar 11.

When the hand lever 19 is turned through 90 in a clockwise direction it is set for the minimum stroke of the rack bar l1, which will then execute two complete to and fro movements (which may or may not be of equal magnitude) for each complete rotation of the crank arm 13.

Thus the basket 21 may be arranged to be oscillated through any angle between two extremes. In the position of the hand lever illustrated, the basket is oscillated to and fro through 360 in each direction for every complete rotation of the crank arm 13 and, in the other position of the hand lever, the basket is oscillated through a relatively small angle, effecting two complete to and fro movements for each complete rotation of the crank arm. As, however, the relatively small angle referred to above is arranged to be considerably less than one half the maximum angle of oscillation of the basket, -it will be evident from the foregoing that the angular velocity of the basket is less when describing a small angle, thanwhen describing a large angle provided the speed of rotation of the shaft of the electric motor 14 remains constant.

In the event of the electric motor being stopped with the basket in such a position that the aperture therein is not opposite to the aperture in the casing of the apparatus, the hand lever 19 may be operated so as to bring the basket! into the' required position, for when the crank arm 13 is stationary and the hand lever 19 is operated, the linlsiI 17 is actuated so as to its point of connection with the crank arm and so move the rack bar 11 with respect to the guide member 12 and rotate the basket; in order to facilitate this operation as well as to enable the operator to inspect the basket and its contents, the aperture in the casing of the apparatus is provided with a glass Window 22.

It will be evident that the invention is not limited to the particular construction of apparatus illustrated and described which may be varied as desired to suit particular requirements Without exceeding the scope of the invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a Washing machine having a rotatable component in the'direction of the length of the link, a second link connected at one end to said rst pivot and placed at an angle to said first link, a pivot at the other end of said second link, and manual means to vary the position of said last mentioned pivot. v

THOMAS EDGAR PERKS. 

